Viewsonic Pro8200 Projector Review

January 31, 2011 - Art Feierman

Being primarily a home entertainment projector, this Viewsonic is less likely to end up in nicely designed home theater rooms with dark walls, floors, etc. Thanks to the brightness, it’s more of a family room projector.

Viewsonic Pro8200 Projector Screen Recommendations

Time to consider key factors that will help you determine the best screen solution for your new Viewsonic Pro8200.

The Viewsonic Pro8200 is an especially bright home projector. This allows you the option to go with a high contrast gray surfaced screen, without worrying very much at all about brightness. In a family room, etc., it is more likely that you will have some ambient light issues. A high contrast gray surface will help with ambient light coming from the sides, and it will lower overall black levels, and dropping those black levels a bit, is a good thing.

Considering all of that, a high contrast grey screen is my first choice for the Pro8200 projector. Sure, if you have the right room, and are watching sports primarily, go for a plus gain white screen for the brightest image, but you’ll lose the ability to control side ambient lighting.

If you are looking for portable screens, for taking the Pro8200 on the road, the lightest are generally the pull-up screens like the Da-lite Insta-theater screens. Most screen manufacturers offer a couple of sizes. Those screens can weigh from under 10 to 25 pounds depending on size, and will fit in your favorite SUV (or even a car, with, say a 60″ diagonal screen). Tripod screens are still around, but generally heavier.

Remember, the Viewsonic Pro8200 projector is a 1080p, that is, it’s a widescreen projector.

So, if at all possible, you’ll want to match it to a 16:9 screen.

The one exception of course, would be for home theater, if you added an anamorphic lens. I really don’t think that’s likely though. If you can afford the lens (more than the Pro8200), then you can afford a better projector.

Bottom line: As usual, match the screen choice to not just the projector, but your room environment, and what type of content you watch (and how you like to watch it).